AN: Tyzula week! Yay!

Pairing: Azula/Ty Lee

Warnings: language, domestic abuse.

Doll Parts

by delictabledahlia

He only loves those things
Because he loves to see them break
I fake it so real, I am beyond fake
And someday, you will ache like I ache

"Doll Parts" — Hole

Golden

Ty Lee viewed Azula as if she were made of gold. Sparkling, warm, priceless perfection. A human being spun of starlight and power, who—and this was the best part—married someone as insignificant and unimportant and ordinary as Ty Lee.

That was how she saw it, at least; others differed strongly in opinion.

She woke up beside her perfect woman and rose to check on her perfect daughter.

The one who was Ty Lee's that Azula agreed to raise alongside her because Azula had a heart of gold, in Ty Lee's personal opinion.

Their daughter was in her bed, fast asleep. She looked so much like a precious doll. Ty Lee gazed at her for a few moments. Lily. She had fair skin like her father, beneath her closed lids golden eyes like her father, fanned out around her head pitch black hair like her father. If there were righteous spirits incarnate in this world, Lily would be one of them. She would.

Because their daughter was not at all like Azula.

Their daughter was like her father.

Therein lies the rub.

Touch

Azula knew when to touch people to make the proper emphasis. She knew exactly how to strike with a gentle motion that could make someone feel special. That was the ideal way to manipulate others, after all, especially ones who desperately craved that feeling like Ty Lee did.

She knew how to gently caress her arm at the right moment, to touch her lips at the right moment, to ruffle their daughter's hair at the opportune time. She was the ultimate master of manipulating others and she utilized every weapon at her disposal.

Ty Lee watched her from under the shade of a tree as Azula helped Lily climb it. It was the prettiest sight in the world.

So, to her, little bruises did not matter.

Because those pretty touches and perfect embraces made up for it tenfold.

Seeing Azula laughing and playing while Lily pretended to be firebending made up for it. It also reminded Ty Lee that Azula accepted raising her own brother's child because she loved Ty Lee so much.

Even if sometimes that touch broke bones.

Lost

Ty Lee tolerated Azula's anger. She knew it was her fault for being involved with Zuko for so long, but she did leave Zuko for Azula at the first opportunity. She felt she should have credit for that but she did not.

"I don't want to lose you, but I…" Ty Lee focused on looking away. "I wanna know why you love me."

"I love your big, doe eyes, your pretty mouth, your amazingly smooth legs," and she used that skilled, perfectly-timed touch again, "the way your veins bulge a little bit right there, your heart, your talent at combat and, most importantly, that you love me."

Ty Lee wondered if Azula just loved those things because she loved to see them break.

But if she asked that, she would lose Azula and she would never be happy again.

Legend

Azula told Lily a story. She could make them up so easily and Ty Lee always listened from the hallway, her back pressed against the wall. Azula never ran out of stories she claimed were old legends passed down through the ages but really she came up with them on the spot.

They were always scary.

Always so scary.

Never a happy story where lovers ended up together and princesses were rescued and dragons soared free across the sky.

"Goodnight, little doll," said Azula every night.

And Ty Lee would smile to herself.

She did not mind living in Azula's dollhouse.

In fact, she loved it.

Outlier

Ty Lee tried to convince herself that their fights were outliers. They were not part of an average day. Probably. Probably they were not. Ty Lee knew it was a monstrosity of a relationship but she could not bear to stop it because she knew it was because of her that Azula shattered and she would never be able to forgive herself for it. And Azula never would be able to forgive her either.

"And. Our. Child. Is. Not. Something. I. Wanted!" Azula coldly snarled. "How many couples consisting of two women end up with an unwanted baby!"

Ty Lee whispered, "I thought you wanted her."

Azula huffed and rolled her eyes and Ty Lee kept her mouth shut.

Maybe she wanted to break their little doll too, because Ty Lee saw Lily watching from the shadows of the doorframe.

Knowledge

Azula admitted things in the dead of the night. She always did. Ty Lee heard those tales of a broken woman and she wanted her to be happy.

Slowly, under her breath, Azula said, "I know how much like my father I am. When I was little, I wanted to be just like him. But now that I am, it makes me sick."

Ty Lee knew that was true.

"I love you no matter what," said Ty Lee and Azula shook her head.

"And I hurt you. I find that inexplicably," Azula snarled.

"But I want you. You're all I've ever wanted. And I really want you, I really want you, I really do, I really do, Azula so much and I always have. I'd do anything to keep you safe and happy."

"You only act sweet because you know I am fragile. Like everyone else. You think if you say the wrong thing, I will kill myself and I know that. You are fake," said Azula. "You fake it all because you are worried I will throw myself off of a cliff."

"No," Ty Lee stated, so firmly that it stunned Azula speechless. "I am with you because I think you're the best person I've ever met, and you're the strongest person I've ever met too. I know that."

"You know nothing about me," said Azula. "You know nothing about me and you will never ache the way I ache."

Ty Lee felt a rush of anger. If only you would ache like you make me ache.

She pretended to go to sleep.

Summit

"This is the summit of my life," said Ty Lee one morning, looking out at the mountains.

She was on a trip with Lily and Azula and they broke free of their dollhouse for a little while.

"How sad," said Azula, scowling at the beautiful sights. "This place was a mistake. This is why no one ever listens to you. Your ideas are terrible."

Ty Lee, for the first time in her life, wanted to kill Azula, wanted to hurt her, wanted to throw her off of the mountain and run off with Lily in her arms, cradled like a doll.

After that fantasy faded, Ty Lee just kept her lips sealed shut.

And let the stray, wicked thought cross her mind:

Someday, you will ache like I ache.